// 



6/ 



A. DISCOURSE 



L I V E E E D B E F O R tj T II I< 



\ f\ M 



GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 



Oifi tSie occasion of its Sixlu Aimiveisarv 



ON WEDNESDAY, 12th FEBRUARY, \SV 



by aYciisjucii, i>. i>. 



SAVANNAH 



''UBLlSilfiD B^ A RESOLUTION OF THE SOOIE1 



A DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



GEOKGIA HISTOBICAL SOCIETY, 



On the occasion of its Sixth Anniversary* 



ON WEDNESDAY, 12th FEBRUARY, 1845. 



B¥ A. CHURCH; I>* IX 



/ 
ft 

SAVANNAH ; ^ 

PUBLISHED BY A BESOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY 

1843, 



l>& 



^ 



£ttfjeits, <&a. i 

Southern Whig," print. 

184*. 



A DISCOURSE 



Gentlemen of the Georgia Historical Society, — 

It is, doubtless, a source of deep regret, to all present, that the dis- 
tinguished and honored individual expected to, address you on this oc- 
casion, has been providentially prevented from complying with your 
wishes.* 

But while this disappointment must mar the pleasure which the re- 
turn of your anniversary is well calculated to bring, it will not, I trust, 
prevent an humble substitute from receiving that sympathy, to which, 
according to the laws of our social nature, we are all, under similar cir- 
cumstances, entitled. 

The social feeling is, perhaps, one of the most important feelings of 
our nature. It is evidently among the first oi which we are conscious, 
and certainly one of the last which lingers in the heart, as we stand 
upon the verge of time. 

We are cast upon society, in some of its forms, from the cradle to 
the grave. We are indebted to society for those aids and those in* 
fluences which fit us for present and for future happiness. That love 
which watches over us while incapable of self-preservation— which 
labors for us, and defends us when exposed to danger— " that love which 
loves us the more for our very helplessness and imbecility, is the off- 
spring of that social feeling which Deity has implanted in our breasts." 

We are indebted to this susceptibility of our minds for most of those 
desires which prompt to action, and for much of that pleasure which 
we derive from the exercise of our faculties. We live and labour, not 
for ourselves, but for those to whom we are united by social ties. Dur 
ring almost every moment, while conscious, our breasts feel the in 5 
fluence of this principle, and our minds act in obedience to its impulse. 

It becomes, therefore, an important consideration as to what direc? 
tion should be given to this susceptibility of our nature. It must be 
important to know how far it may be under the control of others, and 
by what means it may be most easily and most effectually directed, so 



* Gov. Gilmer. 



4 

as to promote, in the highest possible degree, the welfare of society 
and the happiness of individuals. 

Hitherto, this susceptibility of the human heart has been too often 
perverted. Instead of arousing men to the discharge of the great du. 
ties of philanthropy and benevolence, it has prompted them to unite 
for the oppression and destruction of each other — assuming the specious 
names of patriotism and the love of glory, it has armed nation against 
nation, and often made man the most deadly foe to his fellow man. 

But we have reason to rejoice that, under the mild influence of 
knowledge, and under the hallowing influence of that religion which 
is love, men are beginning more clearly to understand, and more fully 
to comply with the obligations which result from the constitution of 
their natures. Men now begin to apprehend, that as members of so- 
ciety, in all its various forms, important obligations rest upon them — 
that they are necessarily exerting an influence which may, in no small 
degree, be moulding the characters, and limiting the happiness, not on- 
ly of the present, but of succeeding generations, 

The importance resulting from the various and possible associations 
of men, and from the proper direction and control of the feelings and 
sentiments of the members of society, is now well understood — and 
this knowledge is used for purposes most deeply affecting the happiness 
of men, 

Our political clubs and associationsr— our religious and literary so- 
cieties, as well as great national communities, show not only the pow- 
er of that united strength wnich renders man lord of this lower crea- 
tion, but also the vast influence which individuals may acquire in the 
direction and control of this united Strength ! They show us that one 
man may so acquire the direction and guidance of his fellow men, as 
to become the very heart of niillions-r-and that all their acts will be 
but the pulsations of this central, life-giving organ ! ! 

The happiness of man in this life, and, doubtless, in the life to 
come, depends upon the proper culture of all his powers with refer, 
ence to his social nature,—" society is the natural state of man," 

The object of society is mutual aid---the great business of society is 
to prepare its members for the full discharge of individual duty, and to 
enable them to enjoy the highest degree of individual happiness. Or 
it may be said, with propriety, that the business of society is to educate 
men for society. To do this effectually, men must be taught the rela- 
tions which they sustain to each other-r-they must be made to feel the 
.obligations which arise from these relations — they must be able to trace 
f he direction to which the virtuous emotions of the heart point, and to 



find the objects of benevolence upon which the virtuou3 sympathies of 
our nature should fasten. And it is, doubtless, true, that the farther 
they extend their view, the broader they make the field, over which are 
to be exercised the kindlier feelings of their hearts, the better will they 
be prepared to discharge all their duties as members of society, and 
the purer and more lasting will be that happiness which they will en- 
joy ! 

In looking at the relations which we sustain to our fellow men, we 

f? find that they do not connect us with the present age alone, but also 
with the past and with the future. To many who have preceded us we 
are under peculiar obligations — obligations which cannot be disregard- 
ed without failing in duty, not to them alone, but to present and future 
generations. The names of good men who have gone to the grave 
— men who have devoted their lives to the happiness of their fellow 
men, should be rescued from oblivion — their virtuous deeds should be 
held up to the view, and for the imitation of all. This duty, ever bind- 
ing upon the members of society, is felt by only the few, and but sel- 
dom discharged by any. And even the few who attempt, in any 
degree, to discharge their duty to those who have preceded them, con- 
fine their efforts, almost exclusively, to those who have been preeminent 
in wisdom and virtue. That distinguished men should be remembered 
with merited honours, all will at once acknowledge — and most will oc- 
casionally render them the tribute of just praise. But such men will 
be honored— they need not our efforts to secure for them the just meed 
of fame. 

But there are many others, to whom we are greatly indebted, whose 
names and whose virtues will be unknown to future ages, unless res- 
cued from oblivion by speedy exertions. Men have ever been too in- 
different to the merits of humble virtue — and especially have they been 
too remiss in seizing upon that strong passion of the human heart, the 
love of posthumous praise. Every man wishes to be known to succee- 
ding ages — every man desires that his name may stand upon the chron- 
icles of the country — that he may, in some degree, be considered a ben- 
efactor to his fellow men. And any hope that this desire will be grat- 
ified will incite to virtue — will restrain from vice. We owe it then 
to the dead — we owe it to the living — we owe it to the good of succee- 
ding generations, and especially to the welfare of society, to rescue 
from oblivion the good deeds of those, who, though they may not have 
been most conspicuous among their fellow men, have still rendered 
some service to their country — have still been benefactors to their 
race. 



iii discharging this duty, local history is an all-important instrunr.., 

In our own State, many unambitious, yet useful and most worthy 
men have gone to their rest, and are now unnoticed and almost un- 
known. Any knowledge of their motives, and of their acts, and of their 
influence, which may still be retained, is fast fading from the memories 
of the living, and must soon be lost in the graves of these aged survi- 
vors. 

Many in our border-wars performed services and exhibited feats of 
valor, which would honor the brightest page of our revolutionary his- 
tory. And yet no record tells their deeds, and probably no page of his- 
tory will ever record their names. 

How few of the citizens of the State have ever heard of the bold and 
perilous adventure of the little band of frontier patriots who, in 1793, 
at midnight, swam one of our largest rivers, explored a camp of hostile 
Creek Indians, who were ready to fall upon the defenceless settlers ; 
and while the merciless savage was buried in sleep, carried from his 
midst such trophies, as, exhibited to his view upon the opposite bank 
of the river, convinced him that the white man had explored his camp, 
was acquainted with his designs, and ready to meet him in battle ? 
But one individual lingers among us, who can say, with respect to that 
bold and perilous, yet successful adventure — (an adventure which prob- 
ably saved many from the murderous tomahawk,) " cujus pars magna 
fui" — and perhaps not a line exists to transmit to succeeding ages the 
author* of this noble deed, or the services of the worthy patriot and his 
spartan band! ! 

Who can estimate the blessings conferred upon the State by such 
men as Springer, and Marshal, and Hull, and the elder Mercer, and 
many others of the same self-denying spirit ? 

And what, in a few years, will the page of history tell of these good 
men, who labored in the midst of difficulties which would have been ap- 
palling to almost any others, that they might spread the light of knowl- 
edge and the blessings of the Gospel among their tellow men. 

Go to the busy line of one of our important rail roads, and as you see 
the products of the country hurried to our cities, almost without price, 
and the traveller wafted to his destined place, as on wings of wind, ask 
to whom are we probably indebted for this noble work of art — this im- 
portant high-way through the State. And few, even now, will point to 
the name of onef who, unambitious of office and unused to the halls of 
legislation, had wisdom to apprehend the advantages of such a work, 
and patriotism sufficient to prevent it from being abandoned, when oth- 

* The late Gen. David Adams, f Wm. Williams. 



ler 



ers shrunk from the responsibility of securing its charter. In the okk 
counties, a few aged fathers yet linger who were actors in important 
and stirring events of our early history: With respect to most, if not 
all such, it may doubtless be said with truth, no autobiography will 
transmit to succeeding ages the story of their lives — no diary of the 
events in which they were engaged will remain to illustrate the scenes 
in which they were important actors. 

Others may be found whose fathers have repeated to them the story 
of by-gone days — the perils of savage warfare — -the early adventures 
of the hardy pioneers of our successive frontier settlements. These 
are now well attested traditions — facts often intensely interesting and 
highly important to the full and perfect history of the State. 

But they are facts which must soon be lost — traditions, which, un- 
less soon deposited in the archives of some society, must soon become 
mere legendary tales. In our new and- mountain regions are those 
who are familiar with the first settlement of those interesting portions 
of our State— -some of them mingled with the native population, and 
can communicate much concerning that interesting people which pos- 
terity will love to read — much which the men of future ages, as they 
tread those lovely valleys and climb those lofty mountains, will dwell 
upon with delight. 

Might not local associations be made efficient auxiliaries to the Geor- 
gia Historical Society, in securing much of this important knowledge, 
which is liable to be forever lost ? And might not such local associa- 
tions be made to exert a happy influence upon the feelings and habits 
of our people ? Could they not be made, in some degree at least, an 
antidote to the bitter political, and the unholy religious asperities of 
which our free institutions seem to be so prolific ? 

The pleasant and cordial mingling of all parties, whether military, 
or religious, or political, which annually takes place in your city on 
this day, is proof that such associations may exert a delightful influence 
upon the minds of our people. How different the effect of one of these 
anniversaries from that of a meeting for a political canvass ! " Par- 
vis commoner e magna licet." 

And why may not what you here see, be seen in other cities, and in 
the village, and even in the country ? 

By suitable efforts, I doubt not that the population of almost any sec- 
tion of the State, might be collected on an occasion of this kind — they 
might be brought to feel an interest in subjects relating to our past and 
our present history, they might be brought to feel a deeper interest in 
the institutions of the country— an interest wholly unconnected with 



the party feuds and personal contests of aspiring politicians. We are 
not, as a people, deficient in patriotism, but we often fail to direct our 
patriotism aright. Subjects of great importance to the public welfare 
und to private happiness have been, and are still being neglected for 
those of far less importance. We evidently want something to change 
the current of popular feeling — the minds of our people must be suitably 
withdrawn from the, hitherto, all absorbing themes of party politics and 
great, immediate wealth. And still they must have, occasionally, 
subjects of a public and exciting character — -they must gratify that social 
feeling which burns in the heart of every man — that feeling upon which 
the demagogue and the tyrant alike seize, and which the friends of good 
order and good government must endeavor to wrest from them, and 
direct in such manner as to promote the best interests of the State. Our 
young men, and especially our young men in the middle and lower 
classes of society, want new motives to action — motives which must be 
furnished, or the liberties of the country will be endangered. 

Ours is a government which knows no distinction of rank-— it is a go- 
vernment which must cease, so soon as a permanent division of our citi- 
zens into castes shall take place. 

And yet there is, evidently, in our State, a tendency to distinctions 
and permanent distinctions, inconsistent with the genius and the stabili- 
ty of our republican institutions ! The line between the rich and the 
poor, the educated and the uneducated, is becoming more and more 
distinct. The desire to acquire even the elements of knowledge is, 
with certain classes, diminishing^ — and the want of education is losing 
in the estimation of many, that reproach which heretofore has ever been 
attached to those in this condition. There may now be found, and es- 
pecially at the polls, "the esprit du corps" of ignorance. 

If we have notour "sans culottes" we have those whose boastings 
are little less shameless, and whose ignorance and vice, if unchecked, 
must lead to scenes as revolting as those of Jacobin France during the 
darkest period of her revolution. 

It has often been asked of late, and that such questions can be ask- 
ed with propriety, should fill the heart of the patriot with fearful 
forebodings — where is now that respect for the sanctions of law which 
once universally prevailed in our country? where that reverence 
which was once connected with the obligations of an oath ? where that 
safety, and that certainty of justice which were once found in the jury 
box? and where that purity and freedom which once characterized our 
elections, and made the ballot box the glory of American freedom ? 

That our free institutions cannot long survive the permanent debase- 



ment of a majority of our citizens is with us an axiom. And yet that, 
process is evidently going on in our State — the number of the unedu- 
cated is increasing in a ratio greater than that of our whole population. 

Were we to discever, on the part of a foreign nation, a policy in- 
tended to interfere with any of our domestic institutions, or to overthrow 
our government, with what vigilance should we guard against its in- 
fluence ? What are even now our feelings towards a portion of the 
citizens of some of our sister States ? 

But what is the danger arising from foreign enemies, or from fanat- 
ics at a distance, compared with that arising from an ignorant and vi- 
cious population in our midst ! a population who have the constitution- 
al right to make our laws, and the physical power to enforce them ! 
a population having nothing to lose, yet ever hoping to gain by change 
and revolution ! 

Let it be generally believed, that the fleets of a foreign power were 
soon to appear upon our coast, to co-operate with the fanatics of an- 
other portion of our country in overturning our peculiar domestic in- 
stitutions, and would there be any difficulty in asssessing and collect- 
ing taxes to meet the expenses of preparation to repel our expected 
invaders ? The march of ignorance may be slower than the march of 
armies, or the approach of hostile fleets — but it cannot be less certain, 
or less destructive to our free institutions ! Even those peculiar do- 
mestic institutions, concerning which we are, at this time, with much 
propriety, peculiarly jealous, are in far greater danger from ignoronce 
at home than from fanaticism abroad. And if they be ever rudely in- 
terfered with, it will doubtless be from this source. The jealousy and 
envy of a large, ignorant, and debased population, must be most dan- 
gerous, in such a government as ours, and to such a state of society 
as that to which I have just referred. Our only safety on this point, 
is in the general intelligence and virtue of our population. 

The tendency of civil government is, unquestionably to guard 
the interests of the few — to promote the honor and power of the 
nation, as a whole, at the expense of individual happiness. The 
history ot the world fully establishes the truth of this assertion. The 
welfare of millions is every day sacrificed at the shrine of national 
strength and national glory. Look at Great Britain — great in arts and 
in arms. Her power is acknowledged by nearly one fourth the inhab- 
itants of earth — her men of science are enlightening the world by 
their wisdom — her philanthropists are spreading the knowledge of 
Christianity and the blessings of civilization among all nations — and 

her artists are bringing the powers of nature almost to supersede the 

2 



10 

necessity for human labor. And yet what is the condition of the great 
mass of her subjects ? Where arc the increased blessings which 
are enjoyed by her brave and generous-hearted Irish peasanty 1 Where 
the elevation and comforts which the operatives in her mining and 
manufacturing districts have obtained ? 

Turn to France, where all which elevates and ennobles man may 
be found — a nation whose prowess in arms ha^ never been surpassed — 
a nation now ruled by one of the mildest, and most enlightened, and 
most liberal monarchs of this enlightened, and liberal age. Have the 
subjects of this mighty nation advanced in knowledge, and in happi- 
ness, in proportion to the increase of national power and national glo- 
ry ? What is the condition cf her peasantry, even since the glorious 
revolution of July ? — a revolution which gave them a citizen king, and 
which published to the nation a bill of rights, declaring that French- 
men are all equal in the eye of the lav.', and that all arc to be equally 
eligible to civil and to military employment ? Instead of finding all 
equal, and equally admissible to office, not more than 160,000 of her 
34 millions inhabitants, are jiermitted to enjoy the light cf suffiage. 
France, with a population nearly double that of the United States, has 
less than half the number of voters, which are found in the single State 
of Pennsylvania. 

Most of the European States, have, within the last century, made 
great advances in wealth, in power, and in knowledge. As nations 
they have attained a high degree of civilization and refinement. But 
why, witfrall their wealth and power — -with all their science and arts 
— with all their commerce and manufactures, do not their subjects reap 
advantages in proportion to the increasing greatness and glory of their 
respective nations I Why, even as their wealth increases until em- 
ployment cannot be found for capital, and their products are multiplied, 
till the markets of the world are glutted with their merchandize, do 
the great mass of those very subjects who create this wealth, remain 
under the most grinding oppression, and endure the most withering 
poverty ? 

Is it not manifest that the great majority of British subjects, do not 
constitute the political nation ? They may indeed create her wealth, 
and defend her territory, and carry her arms to the remotest regions of 
earth. — But they are not the nation — they are not expected to share 
in the blessing?, which spring from national wealth, and national 
power, and national advancement, in the arts and sciences. A few 
individuals engross the wealth, and wield the destinies of empire. 
The wealth of the few constitutes national wealth, the intelligence of 



11 

the few constitutes national intelligence, and the happiness of the few 
is the grand object of governmental enactments. The vast majority 
of the subjects of European States, are lost, as individuals — they have 
no individual, political existence. They have virtually no personal 
freedom, and reap no personal advantage from the prosperity, and in- 
creasing greatness of their respective States. Such has been the 
tendency of civil governments, in every age of the world. 

The oppressions of government may, and they often do arouse their 
subjects to a consciousness of their wrongs ; and in the might of their 
physical power, they will assert, and even establish their rights. But 
to retain and to exercise these rights, as individuals, and for their in- 
dividual happiness, they must be enlightened, they must be religious. 
Intelligence may not produce virtue, but ignorance will produce vice. 
An educated people may be the subjects of despotism, an ignorant peo- 
ple must be. 

The citizens of this country have asserted and they have establish- 
ed their political rights — -they have adopted forms of government, 
which were designed to secure to every individual, personal freedom, 
and an increase of personal happiness in proportion to the increase of 
national prosperity. Our independence was secured by men who un- 
derstood their rights — the great mass ef American citizens, at the peri- 
od of our national revolution, were educated and virtuous. 

But is not the tendency of Government, the same in our country, 
as in others- Arc not our citizens, thus soon, losing that high tone of 
personal independence, which characterised the early settlers of 
all our States ; and which especially characterised our fathers, 
during the period of our revolution? Arc not great national inter- 
ests engrossing the attention of our citizens, while many of their 
personal interests, arc absorbed in the power and glory of the Repub- 
lic? Are not the lower classes losing much of that personal influ- 
ence which they once possessed, and becoming more and more, the 
dupes of the demagogue, and the unconscious instruments of selfish 
aspirants to office ? The social system is sadly disordered — the pow- 
ers and functions of the body politic are greatly deranged — the action 
of the system is unnatural, and must be restored to its original health- 
ful state, or political dissolution will inevitably ensue. 

The great evil is ignorance — the effectual and only permanent rem- 
edy is knowledge. 

General education was considered by the early settlers of this coun- 
try, a most important subject — one which claimed the first attention 
of the citizens, and the especial attention of the Legislature. The 



11 

school house and the church were usually, reared side by side — and 
it was evidently their intention, that no child should be left without the 
means of acquiring a respectable education. And though our State 
labored under peculiar dirriculties, during her colonial existence, and 
for a considerable period after our independence, its history shows 
that our fathers were not less attentive to the great subject of general 
education, than were those who first settled our sister States. 

This portion of our history is not, I apprehend, a ban-en, or unin- 
teresting field. There are, I doubt not. many important and interest- 
ing facts, as well as many records, which may, and I hope will be 
brought forth, and which will show, that had we carried out the views 
of her early patriots, and the rramers of our first Constitution, Georgia 
would now have a system of education, equal, il not superior, to that of 
any State in the Union. 

I determined, when first informed, that I should be expected to ad- 
dress you on this occasion, to make the history of education, in our 
State, my subject. My time, however, and my health, and especially 
awant of records, which I trust may yet be found, have prevented me 
from attempting to cam" out this purpose. We owe it, however, to 
the honor of our fathers- — to the liberality of many who have given 
their wealth, to endow and to sustain private institutions of learning. 
both at home and abroad— we owe it to the honor of many who have 
labored in the arduous and most useful profession of teachers, that this 
portion of our history shall not be neglected. Those who have exert- 
ed a large influence in the establishment and support of Seminaries 
of learning, and those who have been eminent as instructors, in the 
higher branches ot knowledge, will be honored, and their names will 
be chronicled among the benefactors of the State. While Franklin 
College shall remain, or its records be preserved, the name of Gov. 
Milledge will be honored for the noble girt of a large tract of land 
intended not only for the site of the College, but also for that of a town, 
a gift which has, to a large extent, aided the trustees of the institution. 
in sustaining it, when other resources failed. While the records of 
the Baptist denomination of christians in Georgia shall be preserved, 
the name of Dr. Mercer will be honored by the friends of christian ed- 
ucation, for his munificent girts and bequests to the University which 
bears his honored name. And high as the reputation of Gov. Jackson 
and Abram Baldwin stand, fur their political services to the State, I 
doubt not that their services in the cause of education, will add as 
bright a chaplet to their fame. Such men as the deceased Dr. Wad- 
del, and the venprahle patriarch ot the school room and the pulpit, who 



13 

still lingers among us,* and whom I rejoice to see in our midst, to-day ; 
can never be forgotten, while any history of our State remains. Their 
names and their fame are published in every part of our State, from 
the lips, and by the services of those, whom they have trained to wis- 
dom and virtue. 

But many, whose labors, as teachers of youth, have been performed 
in humbler spheres of action, but who have still been highly useful, 
will soon be unknown, unless speedy efforts be made to rescue thei? 
names from oblivion. And here again the importance of local history 
becomes manifest. As proof that the early inhabitants of our State 
were not unmindful of the subject of general education, we may appeal 
to the records of the first settlements of different sections of the country. 
In this city, early provision was made for public education — and espe- 
cially for the education of the orphan and the poor. The efforts which 
were made to sustain the orphan house, and to establish and support 
Bethesda College, as well as the minor schools which were open to 
all the children of the city, are evidence of the feelings and sentiments 
of its early inhabitants. 

We may refer also, with pleasure, to the pious, persecuted men, who 
first raised their Ebenezev in a sister, and adjoining county, and who 
there at the same time reared the standard of religion and of education. 

The early history of the city of Augusta, is proof of the same feel- 
ing, on the part of her first inhabitants. The provision which was 
there made for the establishment and ample endowment of her Acade- 
my, one of the most useful institutions of the kind, in our Southern 
country, is proof that the subject of education was considered by her 
citizens as one of vital importance. 

The hardy Highlanders who planted themselves upon the banks of 
the Altamaha, as a bulwark against savage incursions, and Spanish 
invasion, brought with them that love of learning, which characterises 
the land of their fathers, and to the honor of their descendants, it may 
be said, they have ever been the fast friends of general education, ai)d 
of an elevated standard of learning in the State. 

I need not mention the little colony who first penetrated the swamps 
of our Southern sea-board. All who are familiar with the history of 
that favored portion of our State, know with what zeal and energy, its 
first settlers commenced, and with what success, they prosecuted their 
efforts to establish, and to sustain the institutions of learning and reli- 
gion — and most honorably have the sons of those noble sires, followed 
in the footsteps of their patriotic and pious ancestors ! ! 

* Rev. Wm. McQuir, D. D. 



14 

Those who first settled the county of Wilkes, were not less mindful 
of this important subject. Scarcely had they traced the outlines of 
their now beautiful village, before provision was made for a permanent 
institution of learning ; and from that period to this, the cause of edu- 
cation has been one of deep interest to its citizens, and the special care 
of its municipal authorities. And as we trace the history of our State 
from almost the landing of Oglethorpe to the acquisition of the last 
portion of our territory, we find the subject of education a prominent 
subject in the estimation of the first settlers of the different portions of 
the country. Academies have usually been coeval with the organiza- 
tion of the counties ; and in no State in the Union have there probably 
ever been more, or better conducted institutions of the kind, in propor- 
tion to the population, than in Georgia. And in no State in the Union 
have the services of teachers of Academies been more liberally re- 
warded.* 

The first constitution of Georgia was adopted the 5th of February, 
1777, only a few months after the Declaration of Independence. The 
54th section of this constitution declares, " Schools shall be erected in 
each county, and supported at the general expense of the State." 
This is an important record in the history of our education. On the 
31st of July, 1783, the Legislature appropriated 1000 acres of land to 
each county for the support of free schools. In 1784, a few months 
after the ratification of the treaty of peace, by which our national 
independence w r as acknowledged, the Legislature, again in session at 
Savannah, passed an act, appropriating 40,000 acres of land for the 
endowment of a College or University. This act commences with 
the remarkable preamble: " Whereas, the encouragement of religion 
and learning is an object of great importance to any community, and 
must tend to the prosperity and advantage of the same." 

In 1785, the charter of the University was granted, the preamble to 
which would do honor to any Legislature, and will stand a monument 
to the wisdom and patriotism of those who framed, and of those who 
adopted it. 

" As it is the distinguishing happiness of {ree governments that civil 
order should be the result of choice and not necessity, and the com- 
mon wishes of the people become the laws of the land, their public 
prosperity and even existence very much depends upon suitably forming 
the minds and morals of their citizens. When the minds of the peo- 
ple in general are viciously disposed and unprincipled, and their con- 
duct disorderly, a free government will be attended with greater confu- 

*See Appendix. 



15 

slons, and evils more horrid than the wild uncultivated state of nature. 
It can cnly be happy where the public principles and opinions are 
properly directed and their manners regulated. 

" This is an influence beyond the stretch of laws and punishments, 
and can be claimed only by religion and education. It should, there, 
fore, be among the first objects of those who wish well to the national 
prosperity, to encourage and support the principles of religion and mo- 
rality ; and early to place the youth under the forming hand of society, 
that, by instruction, they may be moulded to the love of virtue and 
good order. Sending them abroad to other countries for education 
will not answer the purposes, is too humiliating an acknowledgement 
of the ignorance or inferiority of our own, and will always be the cause 
of so great foreign attachments that, upon principles of policy, it is 
inadmissible." 

In 1792, an act was passed appropriating one thousand pounds for 
the endowment of an Academy in each county. 

In 1798, a third constitution was adopted. The 13th section of the 
4th articles declares : " The arts and sciences shall be patronised in 
one or more seminaries of learning." 

In 1817, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were appropriated to 
the support of poor schools. In 1818, every 10th and 100th lot of 
land in seven new counties were appropriated to the cause of education 
and in 1821, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were set apart for 
the support of county Academies. 

These records show, that the people of Georgia, from the commence- 
ment of their independence, to the full establishment of their constitu- 
tional Government, have recognized the duty and the importance of 
making public, and ample provision for the education of all her citi- 
zens. These records show, that her Jacksons and Baldwins, with 
their many worthy soadjutors, in the achievement of our independence, 
and in the establishment of our present form of government, did not 
doubt, that the State could, and that she ought to become, an efficient 
patron of learning— that correct moral and religious instruction could 
be imparted in our public schools and colleges. 

I know the opinion is now held by a few, that these men, and I may 
say, that almost every great and good man, up to nearly the present 
day, has been in error upon this subject. 

We must honor the feelings which give rise to these sentiments— 
we must respect the piety which prompts to all the efforts which are 
made to purify the fountains of knowledge — to introduce the Bible, 
%vith its hallowing influence, into all our institutions of learning. 



1C 

Without this influence, I believe learning will be a curse to its pos» 
sessor, and a curse to the country of its possessor. But where, I ask, 
is the evidence, that in our country, there is any considerable disposi- 
tion, on the part of public authorities, to banish Christianity from our 
schools and colleges ? If occasional, feeble attempts have been made, 
they have been so feeble, and have so signally failed, that, I apprehend, 
there is little danger of their being renewed, and less of their being 
successful. 

The feelings of our people are such, that no public institution of 
learning can hope to be sustained, while it banishes the Bible from its 
halls, or admits the avowed enemies of Christianity among its instruc- 
tors. Religious men, and, I may say, pious men, are generally pre- 
ferred as teachers of youth. The sentiment is almost universal among 
our citizens, that piety is an important, and sound morality an essential 
characteristic of an instructor in our schools and colleges 5 and in this 
country public opinion controls public authority* 

But, that the momentous truths of the christian religion cannot be as 
effectually maintained, and its holy precepts as successfully inculcated 
in an institution where no particular creed is exclusively professed, 
and no peculiar sectarian dogma enjoined, is, I believe, wholly un- 
supported by facts. 

The broad mantle of Christian charity may be made to cover an 
institution, in which are assembled those entertaining different senti- 
ments upon subjects generally acknowledged not essential to true 
piety. The mingling of students, who may entertain different views 
upon these subjects — -students who have been educated by different 
sectaries, would doubtless produce in their minds enlarged, and more 
liberal view's, and banish from their hearts much of that bigotry which 
too often cleaves to even the enlightened and liberal Christian. Will 
the youth, who has not yet embraced the religion of love, which the 
Gospel inculcates, be more likely to have his mind favorably impressed 
by its precepts, when enforced by the instruction of different teachers, 
all professing the same creed, and endeavoring to build up a particular 
sect, than when recommended by the precept and example of men 
professing different creeds — having no peculiar party to sustain, and yet 
each laboring to lead his pupils to practical and saving piety ? 

It is not true, that in institutions which have had teachers entertain- 
ing different religious sentiments, more difficulties have arisen than in 
those of a different character. While men are imperfect, we must ex- 
pect that occasional discord Avill exist among those who may be pursu- 
ing any, even the holiest work on earth. But there is nothing in the 



1? 

education of the youth of the country, in which, the pious and zealous 
advocates of the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity, may not 
cordially unite ; and there is much in this employment which should, 
and much, I am fully persuaded, which does soften the prejudices and 
awaken, in the breasts of teachers and pupils, the kindliest charities of 
the christian heart. It is not true, that seminaries of learning, under 
the exclusive patronage of the State, have had more difficulties to en- 
counter, from the conflicting sentiments of politicians, than private 
institutions have had from opposing sentiments and jarring interests cf 
those who have had the control of them. I might appeal, for the 
truth of this remark, to many institutions in different parts of our coun- 
try. Did the public authorities of our sister State, South Carolina, 
forget the interests of her State College amidst the fiercest days of 
political strife ? May I not refer to the University of North Carolina, 
at this time one of the most respectable seminaries of learning, of the 
same age, in our country— an institution wholly under the control of 
the State, and whose officers have ever been of different religious sen- 
timents, and its students the sons of parents professing various creeds 1 

And, I apprehend, it will be found, that public authorities have been, 
not only as faithful, but also as successful guardians of institutions of 
learning, as private individuals or private associations. 

That the funds of our own University have been most carefully and 
judiciously managed — that the usefulness of the institution has been 
the steady aim of its Trustees, from its organization to the present time, 
will not be denied by any one acquainted with its history. 

It will be readily acknowledged that public institutions of learning 
seldom receive all that aid from the State which the importance of 
sound education requires — they often languish for want of means which 
their friends think enlightened and liberal legislators ought to furnish. 
But do not private institutions as often languish and drag out a mere 
existence for want of that liberal support which those who profess to 
patronize and support them, could most easily furnish ? 

Legislative bodies, all public authorities, are imperfect — liable to bo 
influenced by selfish and bad men. The best interests of the country 
may suffer under these influences — the most sacred rights of our citi- 
zens may be sacrificed to party heat and the selfish purposes of dis- 
honest men ! But, can we dispense with legislation and civil govern- 
ment ? 

Mere party considerations may clothe men with authority, at whose 
hands we shall, in vain, seek justice ! But, because oppression may 
be found upon the seat of the magistrate, shall we dispense with iko 
forms of the law ? Because the scales of justice may be held by 



18 

unrighteous hands, shall they not be entrusted to men ? And because 
the great business of education may be imperfectly accomplished by 
the rulers of the land, shall it be wholly abandoned by those to whom 
is committed the welfare of the State ? 

If there be one duty devolving upon a free Christian people, which 
is higher and holier than any other, it is to provide for the education of 
its subjects. This is a duty which the Government must discharge, or 
the majority of its subjects will ultimately sink into slaves. The work 
of general education is too mighty a work for individual effort. Even 
England, wth all her wealth—with all her national pride — with all the 
zeal of a church establishment on the one hand, and all the energy of 
dissenting enthusiasm on the other, has never been able to effect this 
work. Her societies for the diffusion of useful knowledge, with such 
master spirits as Lord Brougham at their head, have most signally 
failed in their attempts to give the blessing of elementary education to 
the majority of the subjects of that enlightened and powerful nation. 

The subject of general education is the important subject which 
should be urged at this time upon our people and upon our Legislature, 
until efficient measures be adopted to remedy existing evil;. 

But while this subject should be pressed home upon the rulers of the 
land, and while the people should be urged to come up to the aid of 
public authority, in this all important matter, we need not, we should 
not disparage, in the slightest degree, the efforts of private individuals, 
or associations, in their laudable endeavors to scatter knowledge over 
the land. Let the State, as a State, do her own work ; and let the 
Christian and the patriot bid every man M God speed,'*' who is endeav- 
orins to enlighten and bless his fellow-men with useful knowledge ! ! 

With respect to the subject of general education, we are behind 
many of our sister States. True, we are much younger than these 
States ; but they have not now more means for effecting this object 
than we have. It is not, perhaps, necessary to inquire why we have 
not accomplished more — regrets for the past will not aid us in our future 
efforts. Still, in endeavoring to avoid future errors, and to escape future 
disappointments, we ought to guard against any thing which has appa- 
rently prevented the successful accomplishment of our former plans. 
And whatever causes may have conspired to defeat the efforts heretofore 
made, I apprehend the most efficient will be foimd to have been a want 
of steady, persevering action upon the part of the people and the Le- 
gislature. Impatience is the fault of our people — they cannot brook 
delay. The effects of this spirit may be seen in every department of 
life. In those sudden, and often absurd and disastrous changes of pur- 



19 

suits and professions, which so frequently blast the hopes of those who, 
by persevering efforts, might attain to wealth and eminence. It is 
seen in the legislation oi the country, and especially in the legislation 
upon the subject of education. On this subject, our statute book has 
line upon line, resolve upon resolve, and enactment upon enactment. 
But we have never had patience to persevere in our efforts to gradually 
perfect and accomplish what could not be at once effected. The his- 
tory of the University is an illustration of the truth of this remark. 
Its plan was conceived in wisdom, and was most admirably adapted to 
the nature of our institutions and the condition of our people. Had the 
requirements of its charter been fully carried out, we should now have 
a system of education more perfect than that .of any State in the Union, 
and as perfect and efjfteient as any kingdom in Europe. According to 
this charter, the education of the State was one connected system — 
every school and academy supported by pubiic funds, was a branch of 
the University, and over each the head of the University had a general 
supervision. It was his duty to visit the several institutions connected 
with the University — to correspond with their trustees and instructors, 
and endeavor to secure for them competent teachers, and to ensure 
from them an ample number of well prepared students for the higher 
•departments of learning. Some have supposed this system too com- 
plicated to be successfully carried into effect — a beautiful but imprac- 
ticable theory. 

But its complication is simplicity, when compared with the Treasury 
*>r Post Office Departments of our Federal Government. Tb& admin- 
istration of the Post Office of the United States requires the supervision 
<of about 15,000 post of&ces, scattered ever the whole extent of the 
Union — the appointment of as many postmasters — the adjustment of 
the accounts of each — the making of contracts with thousands of mail- 
carriers — the receipt and disbursement of about four millions of dollars 
annually. And yet, this can be accomplished under the direction of 
one man ! 

The system of universal education which the charter of the Univer- 
sity of Georgia prescribed, would require, perhaps 2000 institutions of 
learning, from the district school up to the well endowed and fully 
organized University. These institutions would all be found in an area 
of about sixty thousand miles, and requiring the annual disbursement 
of less than five hundred thousand dollars. Has not Georgia many 
citizens who could successfully superintend such a system of general 
education ? Could we not as successfully carry out this plan of public 
instruction as the Stale of New York is now carrying out her system 



20 

— a system which, through the agency of the Regents of her University 
and the Superintendent of her Common Schools, is affording the bless- 
ings of education to almost every citizen of that great State ! — a system 
far more important to her pecuniary resources than all her works of 
internal improvement — a system which is training up citizens who will 
be capable of understanding the blessings of rational freedom, and who 
will be willing to defend it — a system which will render her citizens 
capable of appreciating the advantages arising from the exercise of 
their faculties, and which will incite them to habits of industry and 
economy. It is a system of education which will create a population 
that will create wealth ! And to this, more than to any other cause, if 
she carry out the system, will she be justly entitled to the appellation 
of "Empire State !" 

And is it too late for Georgia, even now, to return to the plan of her 
Baldwin and Jackson ? Should we now commence, and, in fifty years 
accomplish the scheme, it would be the most glorious work which 
could be effected for the honor and prosperity of our State ! The past 
should not discourage us in our efforts for the future. Little as we have 
•accomplished in this respect, we have effected something ; perhaps as 
much as any other State in the same time. 

In this country, where almost every thing springs forth as if by magic, 
institutions of learning have been, comparatively, slow in their pro- 
gress ; and in every State in the Union, systems of education, and 
especially those of common school instruction, have not been rendered 
effective, till after long and repeated trials. 

The State of Massachusetts is supposed by many, and perhaps with 
justice, to have the best system of common school instruction in this 
country. And yet the history of that State clearly shows that from 
1620 to 1337, a period more than double that which has elapsed since 
the first settlement of Georgia, there was a constant departure from 
the great principles of her first settlers, upon the subject of educa- 
tion. The feelings and sentiments of the Pilgrim fathers were such 
as do honor to their names. The early laws of the commonwealth 
were wise and salutary — but they were never enforced. As her pop- 
ulation and wealth increased, there was not only a farther and still 
farther departure from the spirit and the letter of these laws, but also, 
from time to time, a gradual relaxation, and unwise modification of 
them — until in 1830 the condition of her common schools was such as 
to alarm the friends of sound learning, and arouse them to united and 
/successful action upon the subject. 



«>1 

The result of that union and action was, after repeated, and earnest 
appeals to the people and the legislature, the establishment in 1837 of 
a board of Education, and the appointment of a general agent to su. 
perintend the whole subject of common school instruction. From that 
time the work of reform has been progressing ; and whatever of excel- 
lence pertains to her system of general education has been introduced 
since that period. Massachusetts has now something more than the 
theory of elementary education — she has a Mann to carry out the designs 
of wise legislation. 

Similar remarks may be made with respect to her higher institu- 
tions : they have not sprung into existence in full perfection — centuries 
have been necessary to bring them to their present honorable and use- 
ful standing. Even Harvard College, the child of the Pilgrim, and, 
for a long time, the cherished institution of the Puritan fathers, and the 
hope of the church, one hundred and fifty years after its organization, 
and when the State had four hundred thousand inhabitants and no oth- 
er College within her terrritory, had but three professors in its literary 
and scfentific department, and about one hundred and fifty students in 
its halls. That venerable institution struggled for existence during 
almost two centuries — and, with all the zeal of her citizens for educa- 
tion, her legislature has not, to this day, given as much to sustain her 
Harvard, as the legislature of Georgia has given to our University.* 

The University of Georgia has been chartered only about sixty — 
and, properly organized not much over forty years. The difficulties 
attending its organization were many and formidable — and had not a 
few such friends as Baldwin, and Jackson, and Milledge, been found to 
sustain it by their counsel and influence and wealth it might have 
been abandoned. j- » 

But, though this Institution be of recent origin, we owe it to the 
memory of those who have labored most assiduously for its organization 
and support that a careful history of it be written. We owe it also to 
the names of President Meigs, and Brown, and Finley, and Waddel, 
and those who were associated with them that their labors and sacrifi- 
ces in the cause of knowledge in our State shall not be unknown. 
Our children are taught to read, in our common school-books, of the 
piety and self-denial and sacrifices of the Mathers, and Wheelocks, 
and Stiles, and Wetherspoo'ns — great and good men, to whom the 
cause of virtue and education is deeply indebted. And while we would 
not detract from the praise, deservedly, due to these fathers in learn- 

* President Quincy's Hist, of Harvard University, 2d vol. page 403, 
f See Appendix. 



22 

ing, may we not, justly, place by their side the great and good men, 
who, in our own State, have labored as assiduously, and have made as 
great sacrifices for the cause of education ? 

President Meigs commenced the exercises of the University, when 
no College buildings had been erected for the use of the institution. 
Recitations were often heard, and lectures delivered, under the shade of 
the forest oak — and for years he had the almost entire instruction 
of the College, aided only by a tutor or some member of one of the 
higher classes. The institution was without library — without appara- 
tus — without Professors — without buildings — without productive funds ! 
And yet the President was called upon to instruct from forty to sixty 
students — to superintend the erection of buildings, and, frequently, to 
meet the Board of Trustees and the Legislature at a distance from the 
seat of the College, leaving the institution under the superintendence 
of a tutor, or without any control, but the discretion of inexperienced 
youth. And yet, because he did not, in a few years, call together as 
many students as were found at Harvard or Yale, and give to the Col- 
lege as high a reputation as was enjoyed by those ancient Seminaries, 
he has been thought by some to have been deficient in zeal and in tal- 
ents. 

Few men, perhaps, ever labored with more untiring zeal, and unre- 
mitted industry, than that faithful pioneer in the cause of learning in our 
State. His views upon the subject of instruction were enlarged, and the 
measures which he recommended to the Trustees of the College and 
to the Legislature were judicious — such as, fully, to sustain his char- 
acter as a man of learning, and one who had carefully studied the sub- 
ject of general education. The only failure on his part was a failure to 
accomplish an impossibility — to build up, without means, a flourishing 
College. The Isrealites had not a harder task when required to make 
brick without straw, than President Meigs, when, under such circum- 
stances, he was required, to raise up, in a few years, an institution 
which would compare with those which had been long established, 
and well endowed. 

The successor of President Meigs was the Rev. John Brown, D. D. ? 
a most pious and amiable man — an accomplished gentleman, and a 
ripe scholar. He had to encounter not less formidable difficulties 
than his worthy predecessor. When Dr. Brown entered upon the 
duties of his office, the late war with Great Britain was impending, 
and soon commenced. The whole frontier of the State was threatened 
with savage incursions, and the whole coast was exposed to the fleets 
and armies of our formidable enemy. Many of the students belonging 
to the institution were called into the service of the country, and the 



23 

military excitement which every where prevailed, prevented a large 
portion of the young men of the State from pursuing their studies pre- 
paratory to entering College. 

In addition to all these and other difficulties, the funds of the Insti- 
tution were, almost wholly unproductive — and, like his excellent prede- 
cessor, this good man was left without any sufficient means to accom- 
plish the work assigned him. Under such circumstances, Dr. Dwight 
could not have given the institution a respectable standing. Under 
different circumstances, Dr. Brown would, doubtless, have raised it to 
credit and usefulness. 

Of Drs. Finley and Waddel, I need only say, that their names will, 
doubtless, ever stand among the most honored benefactors of the State* 
Dr. Finley was a martyr to the College.* But though he was engaged 
in the service of the institution only a short time, he infused, during 
that brief period, some of his own zeal into the minds of its friends 
and trustees, and gave an impulse and an energy to all its operations, 
which showed how invaluable his services would have been could his 
life have been spared a few years. 

The Rev. Moses Waddel, D. D., succeeded Dr. Finley, and for tea 
years presided over the University — giving, perhaps, as universal satis- 
faction to the Trustees and citizens of the State as any man ever gave 
When engaged in the discharge of the duties of so important a trust* 
He accepted the office not for fame or wealth. Of the former, he had 
already acquired, both as a teacher and as a minister of the Gospel, a 
measure sufficient to satisfy the most ambitious — of the latter, he had 
secured all that he considered necessary or useful to himself and to his 
family. The hope that he might be more useful to his fellow-men in 
this station than in any other, induced him, after repeated solicitations 
on the part of the friends of the College, to accept the Presidency r 
That he was a most devoted friend and servant of the institution — that 
he spared no labor to benefit the State by raising the University to use- 
fulness, and that his efforts were crowned with remarkable success, 
need not be published to the citizens of Georgia. 

I should do violence to my own feelings and injustice to departed 
greatness and worth, were I not to mention, in this brief reference to* 
the University, the name of Dr. Henry Jackson, for many years one 
of its most indefatigable and useful Professors. That he was not the 
President of the institution was because he would not be. To his 

* He died of fever, evidently contracted while travelling, during the months 
of August and September, in order to raise funds for the purchase of a College 
Library, and to arouse the citizens of the State upon the subject of general 
education. 



2 J 

reputation as a man of learning — to hid ability as an instructor — to 
his gratuitous services while in Europe, in procuring apparatus,, and to 
his generous gift of a valuable portion of his library, the University is 
largely indebted lor its increased reputation and usefulness. 

The time and the occasion forbid an attempt to give a history of our 
State College — yet such a history I trust will be given — a history 
which I am persuaded will show that our State, when compared with 
other States, as to her efforts to establish and sustain the higher insti- 
tutions of learning, will not suffer as much as many have apprehended. 
In looking at what has been done for the cause of knowledge in our 
State, we ought to remember that we are yet in our infancy — the war- 
cry of the sava-re has hardly ceased from our borders, and over a large 
portion of our territory the forest still waves. To feel that we have 
done nothing because our University will not compare with the oldest 
institutions of the country, in the extent of its library and the number of 
its students, is as unreasonable as it would be for those institutions to 
feel degraded because they are, in these respects, inferior to the most 
distinguished Universities in Europe.* Under all the circumstances 
attending the efforts of those who have preceded us, they have done 
much for the cause of education — they deserve the thanks of the pre- 
sent generation ; and if, according to the circumstances in which we 
are placed, we put forth equal energy and manifest equal zeal, we 
ehall deserve well of those who will succeed us. 

But we act under very different responsibilities from those who have 
preceded us. We have now possession of our entire territory — our 
population is now in some good degree fixed — the number is rapidly 
increasing, and the habits and feelings of our people are fast forming. 
And what ought to alarm and arouse every patriot, is the fact that many 
of our people are uneducated, and that this class is increasing in a fear- 
ful ratio ! ! The scenes of a few past years, as well as the very nature 
of our civil institutions, admonish us, that with an ignorant and vicious 
population, these institutions are in imminent danger — and that the 
security which we now so confidently expect from the laws of the coun- 
try, will be lost. The history of the world admonishes us that our 
people must be educated or we must submit to tyranny — to the tyranny 
of the mob first, and finally to the tyranny of despotism to free us from 
the more grinding tyranny of the mob. The maintainance of a free 
government, while a majority of its subjects are ignorant, is an ab- 
surdity, too absurd to be entertained in this enlightened age. To hope 
that a representative republic can be sustained, and yet the majority of 

*Sec Appf >r :d:.\. 



those who exercise the elective franchise be destitute of the very ele* 
merits of knowledge, is to hope against hope ! Our people must be 
educated — and our people may be educated ! We need not despair 
our past efforts in the cause of general education should not dis- 
courage us ! 

" We have" not " tried the experiment of public education, under 
the most favorable circumstances." Indeed we have not tried it all. 
We have a poor school system — a system which cannot, which ought 
not to succeed in our country. But w r e have not tried any system of* 
general education— the attempts which have been made were too 
feeble to be called attempts ! We need not, and I trust we shall not 
conclude that the State must forever abandon this great and all impor- 
tant work ! Our people desire a system of universal common-school 
education. Devise a plan suited to their wants and they will adopt 
and sustain it. Give them the opportunity to educate their children, 
and they will embrace it. But any plan, to be successful, must be 
universal — the name and the principles of the poor school must be 
abandoned — -we must open the school room alike to all--in this re- 
spect the State must become the parent of all— and under her fostering 
care all her children must be trained up in knowledge, and be thus 
fitted to defend and honor their common parent. 

To accomplish this work with success, the State must commit it to 
the care of a distinct department of the Government. There must be 
an efficient and permanent officer, to whom the whole subject of com- 
mon-schools shall be entrusted. There should be at the head of this 
department a man who will devote his life to the accomplishment of 
the object, and who will consider its accomplishment the most desira- 
ble and the most enduring monument w r hich can be erected to his 
memory. 

We want a man who, b ; y his pen and by his eloquence, can arouse 
the citizens of the State to the importance of this subject*— -a man who 
would visit, and revisit every county and neighborhood, and from a 
careful knowledge of the peculiar circumstances of each, adapt the 
system to the respective wants of all. This would be a work suffi- 
cient to employ the most eminent talents ; and its successful accom- 
plishment would ensure a fame sufficient to satisfy the most ambitious. 
Who would not prefer, and greatly prefer, this inscription upon his 
tomb, " who, as superintendant of common-schools in Georgia, suc- 
ceeded in putting in successful operation a general system of elemen- 
tary instruction" — to this- — "who was President of the United States, 
and during whose administration the country was most prosperous and 



happy ?" The great work of general education should be commenced 
at once, and with the determination that it must be accomplished. If 

ten years will not be sufficient for its perfection, twenty shall be de- 
■rotedto it — and if in twenty years, it be only commenced, and one hun- 
dred be necessary for its fall accomplishment, it must be urged on until 
"knowledge cover the land.''' 

But have we the means to effect this object ? Is not our treasury 
exhausted, and our public domain all divided among cur citizens ! 
Other States are possessed of large school mnds — they have made 
ample provision for the education of their children. But where can 
Ave nnd means to can j id so expensive a scheme of public instruc- 
tions ? 

Many of our citizens are. doubtless, in error upon this subject. The 
most ample fund possessed by any State affords only a mere trifle in 
the annual expense of its public education. 

Massachusetts has, perhaps, at this time, the most efficient and 
perfect system of common-school instruction in the United States: 
her perm :.: this purpose, is about one million of dollars, 

and its annual income affords less than fifty cents to each child educa- 
ted in her public schools. Connecticut has a fund for this purpc 
amounting to over two millions of dollars. This is the pride and the 
st of the State, and ? admiration and almost the envy of 

other States. And yet this celebrated find affords annually, only about 
one dollar and forty cents to each scholar in her public schools. New 
York has about two millions ol liars vested in a common-school 
fund; and last year about seven hundred thousand children attended 
: the interest on her school fund affording to each 
child about IS cem 

Can it be possible that the want of a sum. so inconsiderable as that 
rded by either of the school funds of these States, prevents Geor- 
gia from establishing and successfully sustaining a system of public 
education ! No, we want not the paltry sum cf 15 cents, given to each 
ir children, to secure for them the blessing of a respectable edu- 
cation. -1 the importance of the subject 
— wow:. idourgreal ad our rich men. and 
rulers of th and especially every parent and guardian in 
, to feel a much deeper interest, than is now felt, in this subject. 
We want some general plan of education, which will afford its privi- 
leges equally to all. And with this system we want a permanent 
c:r. exclusively, devoted to this business — a man imbued with the 



27 

spirit of his station, and possessing such talents as such a work ought 
to command, and such talents as the State can furnish. 

Give us these,, and the difficulties, which to many seem numerous, 
would soon vanish, and the obstacles which appear so formidable 
would be speedily annihilated. 

A large portion of our State, when we consider the mildness of its 
climate, is as favorable to the maintainance of permanent common - 
schools as any State in the Union. Much the larger portion may bo 
laid out into districts, including a sufficient number of children to em- 
ploy a competent teacher, and yet requiring no child to go an unrea- 
sonable distance. 

Would it be a reasonable objection to a plan of common-schools, 
that most of the children would be obliged to go five or six miles each 
day 1 Would such a distance require more bodily exercise than is 
absolutely necessary for the health of our children ? Were every 
child in the State, who attends school, obliged to rise in the morning 
at sun rise, and travel six miles, would he not be benefitted rather than 
injured — would he not be prepared for the duties of the school far bet- 
ter by such exercise, than by the listless hours which too many spend 
in bed, or the too violent sports in which others engage ? I apprehend 
the most valuable system of labor-schools which we could adopt, would 
be to send our children regularly to a school from 4 to 6 miles from 
home. Our people may be persuaded that a few miles distance is a 
matter of no importance in locating the school-house. It may be de- 
monstrated to them that the State can be laid out into districts, that a 
school permanently established in each, would be within a reasonable 
distance of nearly all. 

We need not regard any existing civil or military divisions of the 
State — the subject is one of State interest, and should not be em- 
barrassed by any local considerations. 

Those portions of the State, where the population is too sparse to 
afford a sufficient number of children, within a reasonable distance 
for one school, may easily be provided for by the itinerant method. 
Hardly a family can be found in any county which will not be within 
four or five miles of a few other families. In that part of the State, 
where this sparse population is found, the climate is exceedingly mild 
and the means for constructing houses, which would be comfortable 
for a few scholars, are abundant and cheap. An intelligent teacher, 
spending his time, alternately, between two of these schools containing 
each only halt the usual number of scholars, or successively with three 
or four, containing only one-third or one-fourth the number of children, 



28 

generally found in schools, would, probably, benefit them nearly as 
much as though his whole time were spent with all united. But 
should such an arrangement not meet the views of the citizens, they 
might doubtless be induced to make provision for the boarding of their 
children, in turn, within the reach of the several school houses, and 
thereby have all instructed at the same time, though successively at 
different places. 

A well digested common-school system of education — one which 
would be universal in its operation, would be productive of great con- 
venience to the citizens generally, as well as diminish the expenses 
attending the present method of sustaining schools through the State. 
That our private schools are both inconvenient and expensive, as well 
. as exceedingly imperfect, is acknowledged by all. Teachers are usually 
unwilling to engage in the business of giving instruction for a shorter 
period than a year. Parents must, therefore, bear the expense of the 
yearly tuition, and the loss of the services of the child, during any por- 
tion of the year in which those services might be much needed. This 
loss is, to many, an important consideration, and one which deters num- 
bers from educating their children. Many of the children and youth of 
the State are never sent to school, because their parents or guardians 
cannot have the privilege of doing this when it would be most consist- 
ent with their interests, and for such periods as suit the circumstances 
in which they are placed. This large and increasing class are there- 
fore permitted to grow up in ignorance — are subject to all the moral 
disabilities incident to a want of knowledge, and deprived of all that 
large share of happiness, which, in this age, comes to the man of com- 
mon education. The burden, therefore, of sustaining schools, at pre- 
sent falls upon a few, and falls upon them too with all the inconve- 
nience of the yearly system. 

Had we schools permanently established and limited to a suitable 
length of time, and that time fixed to suit the convenience of the citi- 
zens, the expense of the whole public education would not be as great, 
as that attending our present private, partial and very imperfect system. 
It is said that we have not, and cannot now obtain suitable teachers 
for our common schools. But a judicious system of public instruction 
would raise up teachers among us — it would hold out an inducement to 
many poor young men to prepare themselves for this service — a service 
which would soon repay them for the expenses incurred in preparing 
themselves for it, and give them a profession in which they could, with 
less difficulty, support themselves, than they now can in the ordinary 
puriuits of life. Such a system of public education vould call to the 



29 

school-house many who arc now anxious to advance still further in the 
road to knowledge, but who find themselves wholly destitute of the 
means — it would ultimately bring forth thousands of young men from 
the humble walks of lite, who, but for such a system, would forever 
remain in obscurity, and who, under its fostering influence, would be 
prepared to honor and to bless the State. What is now doing in other 
States may be done in our own. To say that our citizens will not, when 
properly enlightened upon the subject, sustain a system of public edu- 
cation is, I trust, a libel upon their intelligence and their patriotism. 
All, I apprehend, which is now needed, is, the united and persevering 
efforts of those who feel that this is a subject of vital importance to 
the welfare of the State. 

OurjLegislature must be approached with petitions, and, if necessary, 
with remonstrance — our men of learning and influence must unite in 
pressing this subject upon our people — our towns and cities and literary 
societies must come forward, and, with united zeal and united counsel, 
aid in arousing public attention, and in enlightening the public mind, 
until the public shall act upon the Legislature, and the Legislature shall 
respond to that action by cheerfully adopting, and patiently and perse - 
veringly carrying out some general plan of useful instruction. 

And might not the Historical Society of Georgia move in this matter, 
and exert an important influence upon our people and upon our Legisla- 
ture ? I am aware, gentlemen, that this subject may seem to have 
little connection with the object of your association. But if it have 
not now an important connection with the grand object of your society, 
it will be an important subject for the pen of our future historian. The 
honor and prosperity, if not the independence of Georgia, will, I doubt 
not, depend in no small degree, upon the course which the present gen- 
eration pursues with respect to this subject. The chartered rights 
which we have received from our ancestors cannot be preserved with- 
out that intelligence which is the only safeguard of rational freedom. 

The venerable arch upon which our constitution is inscribed, cannot 
be supported when its firm pillars are removed. The firmest of the 
three is now crumbling. The second already trembles upon its base, 
and the sacred instrument must soon be precipitated from its proud 
height, and become but the broken fragments of a once glorious mon- 
ument ! 

And might not Savannah, which has often taken the lead, and never 
withheld her aid in all that tends to the honor and welfare of our State, 
set also the example in the noble cause of general and systematic and 
permanent education ? Her citizens may reflect with pleasure upon 



30 

the institution and the honorable efforts of the Georgia Historical 
Society — a society which has already brought to light many facts and 
rescued many records from impending destruction, which tend, in a 
high degree, to illustrate the history of the State, and to make known 
the virtues and the noble deeds of an ancestry worthy to be the founders 
of a great State. Savannah may rejoice at ilie triumph of her citizens 
in opening to the interior of the State a great highway, over which 
are brought to her wharves the various products of industry and of art, 
and upon which are daily returned to the doors of our people the ne- 
cessaries and conveniences and luxuries of life, which have been 
received in exchange for the fruits of their own labor. 

Her inhabitants may also point, with grateful hearts, to her sacred 
temples and her schools and seminaries of learning — institutions 
where their children are blest with instruction, which fits them for use- 
fulness and honor in life — temples in w T hich they are taught the pure 
and sublime precepts of that religion which, with the blessing of God, 
will prepare them for higher and holier and nobler employment. With 
more than pleasure can the favored inhabitants of this city recur to 
that unambitious, yet most useful association, which has so long, by 
its charities, dried the orphan's tears, and trained the friendless chil' 
dren of poverty to virtue and honor. Such a union as your benevolent 
Union Society has effected, and such blessings as that union has pro- 
duced on one worthy the great and good men to whose wisdom and 
charity it owes its origin, and of those generous descendants and their 
worthy coadjutors who are still so unitedly and successfully accomplish- 
ing its praiseworthy, benevolent object. And with still more pleasure 
may the inhabitants of this highly favored city, behold the efforts of 
their wives and daughters, in finishing the good work which others had 
left undone — going out in obedience to the command of their " Master" 
and compelling the children of poverty and ignorance to come and 
partake of the blessings of knowledge, which their charity has pro- 
vided. Would that the State would take pattern from the ladies of 
your city, and imitate their noble exampie by providing a free school 
for all its children ! Do not the poor and the fatherless, who are scat- 
tered over the State, need the advantages of knowledge and the bless- 
ings of education as much as those of your city ? Should not the State 
become a great Union Society — should not a general system of public 
free schools be provided, so that all her children may be rescued from 
ignorance, and under her fostering, parental care, be raised to useful- 
ness and honor ? 

And with no small pleasure can the citizens of Savannah turn over 



31 

the records of State legislation upon the subject of education in all its 
departments. Those records bear ample, honorable testimony to the 
liberal and patriotic views which the representatives of your city and 
county have ever entertained upon this important subject. In all the 
conflicts of political parties, the representatives of Chatham have 
known no party feelings upon the subject of education. They have 
ever rallied to the rescue, when any of the institutions of learning 
needed their aid ; and it has long since become an axiom with the 
friends of the State University, when inquiring to whom that institution 
might look for support, that the representatives of Chatham need not 
be doubted. And often, in the hour of need, has that seminary been 
indebted, in no small degree, to your representatives for, if not its 
existence, at least for much of that assistance which it has received 
from the Legislature, and by means of which it has been enabled to 
accomplish much of what it has thus far effected. 

And I will again ask, may not, will not your city come forward in 
the ,great and all important work of general education ? Can she not 
in her wisdom devise, and by her public spirit and patriotism cause to 
be put in operation, a system which will ultimately bring the blessings 
of education within the reach of every child in our State ? May she 
not, by her efforts and by her example, excite other portions of the 
State to emulation, and thus arouse the energies of our people, until 
every citizen of Georgia can read the constitution of his country — until 
no freeman of Geergia shall be unable to write his own ballot when 
about to give his vote for the rulers of the country ? 

There maybe many difficulties whicfi must be overcome to secure 
the blessings sought. But the difficulties, however numerous, will be 
few, compared with the numberless blessings which in rich variety 
would be spread over the State. There may be many obstacles which 
must be removed, before the object of the friends of learning can be 
fully attained. But are these obstacles insurmountable — are they ^so 
formidable as to appal the philanthropist and the patriot ? Are they as 
formidable as those which have been overcome by the energy of this 
city in effecting her great work of internal improvement. 

The importance of some cheap and direct communication to the in- 
terior of the State was long since perceived by many, and urged upon 
the consideration of the people and of the legislature. The difficul- 
ties also in the way of this important work were seen and acknowl- 
edged to be neitheir few nor small. 

I need not mention the disappointments and discouragements to 
which this city and the people of a 'large portion of the State were sub- 



3:2 

jectcd in the failure of plans, and in the unsuccessful expenditure of 
fund?. Had the friends of internal improvement despaired under 
these failures and disappointments — had they finally concluded that, 
desirable as might be the object, it could not be accomplished, the city 
of Oglethorpe would at this time exhibit little of that increased pros- 
perity which it enjoys and a large portion of the State, unblest with 
the means of disposing of the fruits of their industry, would present 
much less of that growing wealth which now marks the wisdom of 
your policy, and shows how rich may be blessings which spring from 
an energy of purpose, not weakened by discouragements, nor paralyzed 
by repeated failures. 

But what are the blessings, rich and varied as they evidently are, 
which your city enjoys, and which the State reaps from your wise and 
successful system of internal improvement, compared with the bless- 
ings which city and country would reap from a wise and successful 
system of general education ? The moral power which would thus 
be put in operation and the economical effects which would result from 
its operation upon the production of wealth, and from the consumption 
of objects of foreign commerce and of domestic manufactures which 
must pass through your city, would be incalculable. 

The increased prosperity and wealth of your city would, I donbt not, 
exceed in a far higher degree even its present highly flourishing con- 
dition, than the force of your most powerful locomotive exceeds that of 
the humble animal which draws the rudest cart to your market. 

An uneducated people will be an indolent people — an uneducated 
people will be a wasteful people — wasteful in the use of even the ener- 
gies which it possesses — wasteful in the consumption of the few pro- 
ducts which it creates, and utterly regardless of the prosperity of 
others. 

The natural resources of that part of our State whose products must 
pass through or be consumed in this place — are incalculable. "With 
an intelligent and industrious population, such a population as the 
country under proper culture could support, the business and the wealth 
of Savannah would increase an hundred fold. No one can cast his 
eye over the map of the State, without seeing that the country which 
must depend on Savannah for a market, and upon which Savannah 
must depend, for its greatness, is capable of making her a great city. 
How much would its business be augmented, were even the county of 
Chatham as highly cultivated and as thickly inhabited as the common 
districts of Belgium and Holland ? And why should not every part, not 
only of this county, but of almost every county in the State.be as thickly 



33 

dotted with intelligent and industrious inhabitants as the countries to 
which I have alluded. Are our swamps and morasses more inviting 
than were those of Holland in the days of Csesar ? Are our pine 
barrens less susceptible of improvement than were then many coun- 
tries in Europe, Which are now highly cultivated 7 Can We believe 
that a large portion of that vast territory which borders our seaboard 
and that through which your Rail Road runs, were designed by the 
Creator for barren wastes ? Shall most ot the large counties which 
surround this city, continue in their present condition ? Must they 
support only a meagre population- — such as is now scattered over 
them 1 Must their descendants, generation after generation, pass 
away unblest with the advantages of an education, which would arouse 
their energies and excite to industry and economy-^to wealth and to a 
still higher degree of civilization and refinement ? I trust not ! for the hon* 
or and prosperity of our State, I believe not! Mustthe healthful regions 
of the Northern part of our State with their rich vallies and their fer* 
tile hills, be longer neglected? Mustthe hardy yeomanry of that 
portion of the commonwealth be longer? and still longer, deprived of 
the means of raising their children to a level with those of more favor- 
ed portions of the State, and of the confederacy ? They may not now 
pour into our public treasury, the same amount of taxes which come 
from the more wealthy parts of the State. But let war invade our 
soil, and they will, they must, according to the laws of the country, 
pour out much more of their blood to defend the possessions of those 
who are now ending, in so high a degree, the blessings of education, 
and the refinements which spring from wealth. We greatly err, 
when we suppose this section of our country, incapable of a high degree 
of culture. Its physical resources are incalculable, and its moral sus- 
ceptibilities well worthy the first care of our government. 

Educate its sons, elevate its inhabitants, by showing them the value 
of knowledge, and you will soon produce a population which will turn 
those now barren hills into fruitful fields, and those rich vallies into the 
very garden spots of the State. 

Your Savannah would then be covered with boats, laden with the 
products of their soil, and your Rail Road would teem with cars 
freighted with the fruits of their manufacturing industry and skill. 

Cultivate their intellect, and you will cultivate their soil, you will 
put in operation all the arts which harmonize and bless life. 

Were good elementary schools in operation only four months each 
year, in every portion of the commonwealth, how different would soon 
be the state of the country and how vast the increase in the business of 

5 



34 

every section of the State, and especially the business of our principal 
towns and cities ! 

In the present advanced state of science and the arts, it is not diffi- 
cult to infuse into elementary instruction so much knowledge of the 
science of agriculture, and of the mechanic arts, as to inspire the 
young with the desire for further knowledge and for improvements in 
all the departments of life. But now it is saddening to the heart of the 
patriot and the christian, to observe the indifference manifested by 
multitudes with respect to almost every thing which can bless and 
adorn life ! There is an apathy upon the subject of education and 
the improvements in the arts and in agriculture, which is far more fatal 
to oifr prosperity as a State, than all the causes which the imagination 
of the demagogue has^ver presented to our people. 

Our people must be aroused, they must be educated before any thing 
like general prosperity can be expected — before our towns will flour- 
ish—before our Rail Roads and Steam Boat Companies will prosper 
— before our city — I shall be pardoned the term, she must be our city, — 
will become what nature designed her — what her great and good found- 
er designed her, and what every enlightened patriot of the State would 
rejoice to see her — a great emporium, of a great, and intelligent, and 
prosperous people. 



APPENDIX. 



Page 6th. 
Since the printing of the first sheets of this address, I have received a let- 
ter from my esteemed friend and former pupil, Jonathan Adams, M. D., of 
Meriwether county, giving me some facts relative to the adventure of his 
father, to whose services I have alluded on the 6th page. From the informa- 
tion given me by Dr. Adams, I find I have not stated correctly the history of 
that expedition. I heard the General speak of it many years since, and at the 
time, took no memorandum. The following is a concise, and, I apprehend, 
correct account : In September, 1793, the frontier settlements, and espe- 
cially those of Hancock and Green, were thrown into alarm by the hostile 
•incursion of the Creek Indians, v It was believed by many to be very import- 
ant that an attack should, at once, be made upon these savages in their own. 
territory. But there were orders of the Executive on the subject which 
seemed to forbid the officers in command of the militia from effecting any such 
purpose. Gen. Adams (then a Major) and his friends considered the emer- 
gency so pressing, that he determined to lead a company into the territory of 
the hostile Creeks. Seventy-five or eighty men immediately started, as most 
of them supposed, in pursuit of some marauding bands, and followed them 
through what are now Putnam and Jasper counties, to the Ocrnulgee river. 
There the design of the expedition was made known to all • and as the lead- 
ers and the principal men were determined to go on, the others were unwilling 
to return, especially through such an Indian country. They pursued their 
march, and on the 21st of September, late at night, reached the east bank of 
the Chattahoochee, and by the barking of dogs and other indications, found 
themselves opposite- an Indian village. They were ignorant of the river, of 
the country, and strength of the enemy ; but knew that an exhibition of their 
own weakness would ensure their destruction. Adams, therefore, 'proposed 
to one or two of the company to explore the river, and, if possible, make their 
way across, and learn the situation of the town and the best mode of attack. 
The attempt was made, and all failed of reaching the opposite bank but Adams. 
He succeeded, and alone, accomplished the object — was driven from the midst 
of the town by the dogs — returned to his own men— led them across the 
river — destroyed the town, killed most of the warriors, captured some thirty 
or forty of their women, and led his men safe again to the other side of the 
rivef, and finally, with only one killed, safely hoine, through a wilderness of 
more than 150 miles. This was the first expedition of the whites into the 
territory beyond the Chattahoochee, and w r as believed to have been followed 



by a most favorable impression upon the savages. The Indian town destroyed 
was about six miles above what is now West Point. Troup county, and is still 
known as the burnt village. 

Page 14th. 

I had determined to throw into this Appendix a considerable amount of 
statistical information concerning the Academies in different parts of the 
State. Much which I expected to obtain has not been procured — in some 
instances because I have not been able to ask for it. and in others because I 
could not obtain it. But I find, that the more I become acquainted with the 
history of these institutions, the more fully am I persuaded of the truth of 
the remarks made on the 14th page, concerning them. In almost every part 
of the State, where there are students to be educated in such institutic 
inhabitants have been liberal in the erection of buildings and in the support 
of teachers. We have, at this time, many Academies well conducted, and 
the teachers liberally sustained by the tuition of pupils. Had we good ele- 
mentary schools, a much larger number of pupils would, doubtless, be found 
in Academies — the children of the country would be incited to the pursuit of 
knowledge by the impulse given to them in these primary institutions — parents 
would be urged on to the education of their children by seeing the improve- 
ment of their minds, and by reflecting upon the advantages arising from this 
improvement. 

How long will the citizens of our State slumber over the most, by far the 
most important, subject which can eni . . ttention and employ their 

Legislature ? Is not this a subject concerning which all can agree ? a subject, 
with respect to which, party politics and sectional jealousies need not exist? 
That our people are disposed to sustain good Academies, when the advantages 
of such institutions are urged upon them, is fully proved by the ease with 
which almost any individual possessing talents and respectability, can succeed 
in persuading the citizens of a county or a neighborhood to establish such a 
seminary. What immense sums of money have been expended in our State 
during the last thirty years in building houses and in furnishing the means 
for giving instructions in these institutions. I am aware that the zeal of pa- 
trons often languishes, and that these houses and these means are too often 
permitted to remain useless — only the monuments of the former zeal and of 
the present apathy of our citizens. But let the education of the State be a 
distinct department of the Government, and the officer hawing the control of 
this department be a man of zeal and energy and ability, and this apathy- 
would be prevented — these walls of science would not be dilapidated. 

Pa 

There is no truth more fully established, concerning the early history of 
the State of Georgia, than that its most distinguished citizens early r •: 
to make the education of our people a prominent subject in the adm:. 
tion of the Government. It stands out in bold relief upon our institutions, 
and upon the early legislation of the country. The education of the whole 



people was the object at which they aimed, and the measures which they ad- 
opted, show the purity of their motives and the ardent desires which they 
felt upon this great national subject. No one can fail, upon looking over the 
records of our legislation, to see with what disinterested feelings the great and 
good men who controled the destinies of our State during the struggle for 
independence and immediately succeeding that eventful period, devoted them- 
selves to its general interests, irrespective of all sectional partialities. I have 
said the difficulties attending the organization of the University, were many 
and formidable. This may be seen by recurring to the condition of the coun- 
try, when it was resolved to establish such an institution. The location of 
the principal seminary, was a subject of no small difficulty. For the con- 
venience of the then population it should have been placed in a very differ- 
ent part of the State from that which was selected. The men, however, who 
had influence in the councils of the country looked to the ultimate welfare of 
the commonwealth. They had, as far as I can discover, no difference of 
opinion on this subject, farther than as to what would be for the best interests 
of the State when all our territory should be obtained, and the whole country 
covered with an intelligent population. By casting the eye over the map of 
the State, it will be seen that the seat of the University, was at the time of 
its selection, just upon the northwestern boundary of our territory — it was per- 
haps the most inconvenient location for the then population which could have 
been selected — it was just upon the Indian territory, far removed from the 
principal population, and almost inaccessible from want of roads or any pub- 
lic conveyances to and from it. Had the Indian title to the lands farther north 
and west been extinguished, the University would doubtless have been loca- 
ted still farther west. And yet, notwithstanding the location was so incon- 
venient, the friends of learning in the low country, readily acquiesed in the 
selection, and united heartily in endeavoring to organize and put it in opera- 
tion. The records of the Trustees and the Senatus Academicus, and the 
Legislature, show that all the distinguished men of the State, were united in 
endeavoring to carry out this important measure. The funds of the University, 
however, were very small, when the Legislature and the Trustees determined 
to commence the institution. No lands belonging to it were thought suitable 
for a seat of the College. And when one was selected on 6th of July, 1801, 
by a committee consisting of Geo. Walton, Abraham Baldwin, John Milledge, 
John Twiggs, and Hugh Lawson, Gov. Milledge generously purchased the 
tract of land at a cost of about 4000 dollars, and made it a donation to the in- 
stitution. On this land, it is well known, the town of Athens has been prin- 
cipally built, and from the sale of lots the Trustees have derived probably 
not less than 30,000 dollars. Whew the Board determined to commence a 
building suitable for such an institution, the funds at their disposal were 
wholly inadequate, nor was the' State at that time able to make any large ap- 
propriation for such a purpose. The institution very soon became involved 
in debt, the work was obtained, only, at very high prices, and for many years 
the Trustees labored under peculiarly embarrassing circumstances, A re- 



gpectablo number of officers could not be sustained, the College building al- 
ready commenced could not be finished without incurring a still heavier debt, 
and the institution could not be suspended without jeopardizing its .existence. 
Under these circumstances. Baldwin, Jackson, Milledge, Early, the Hous- 
tons, the Habershams, Clay, Few, Brownson, Taliafero, Stephens, Walton, 
Jones, and indeed all the distinguished and leading men in the State, perse- 
vered in their determination to establish a respectable institution. Though 
the College was in its infacy and had few advantages, Gov. Jackson, then 
probably, by far the most popular man in the State, sent his sons to it to re- 
ceive their education. His example and that of other distinguished men had 
a large influence in inducing others to send their sons. For many years the 
institution labored under difficulties which would have defeated the design of 
its distinguished founders, had not its early friends resolved that the State 
must and should have a College of its *ow T n. It is one of the most interesting 
portions of our history to see with w T hat zeal and perseverance the great 
men of the State labored for such a length of time, and under such adverse 
circumstances, to establish a literary Institution which they believed would 
ultimately be an honor and a blessing to their country. 

If there be any subject concerning w T hich many of the early patriots of 
Georgia, may be said to have been disinterested, it is that of the Univerisity. 
A large portion of the citizens, in the first settlement of the country, felt that 
they could not enjoy any immediate, direct, advantage from an institution of 
this kind, and were unwilling that the State should sustain it. The College 
was therefore very unpopular. And yet the principal men of the State often 
risked their popularity in its support. And this has been true with the men 
of all parties, down even to the present day. 

Page 24th. 
, Georgia has often been represented as more inattentive to the great inter- 
ests of education than almost any other State in the Union — a statement 
which does great injustice to our citizens. A correct history of our State 
will show that those who have preceded us have done much for the cause of 
education — a full statement of all which has been given by the citizens of the 
State wouldj doubtless, surprise many. I cannot at this time give a history 
of what has been done by our citizens in the cause of education. A few 
instances will, however, be sufficient to sustain me in the remark, that we have 
not been as utterly regardless of the interests of knowledge as many sup- 
pose. A number of our Academies have respectable, and some of them very 
ample endowments ; the result of both legislative aid and private liberality. 
Meson Academy, at Lexington, Oglethorpe county, received from ten to fif- 
teen thousand dollars, a permanent endowment from the individual whoso 
name it bears. The Burke county Academy has a permanent fund of more 
than seven thousand dollars, and within a few years the citizens of this county 
have given to other institutions probably over $20,000. The Richmond Aca- 
demy has buildings and library and apparatus worth, probably, $30.000 — an 



:> 

annuity from real estate amounting to $1600, and Bank stock to the amount 
of $12,000, besides lands which are rapidly increasing in value. Here, also,- 
is a Medical College endowed by the State to the amount of perhaps $35,000, 
and possessing buildings, apparatus, library, and the usual means for con- 
ducting such an institution, to the amount of $50,000. This institution is 
now well established, and justly meriting and largely receiving the patronage 
of the State and other States. The Chatham Academy has large and valua-^ 
ble buildings, and funds sufficient to sustain an institution of superior charac- 
ter. In the village of Washington, there is, besides the Male Academy, which 
has always been well sustained, a female institute of very high character, for 
the establishment of which the citizens of that county have come forward 
with liberal subscriptions. They have a beautiful building and library, and 
apparatus sufficient to render it an institution of high order. In La Grange, 
Troup county, are Academies, both male and female, upon which the inhabi- 
tants of that village and county have expended large sums, and where hun- 
dreds of both sexes have for years enjoyed superior advantages for instruc- 
tion. No one can visit these and many other Academies and High Schools, 
which are found in all our older and thickly settled counties, without seeing 
that a large amount has been expended by our citizens for purposes of educa- 
tion. The Montpelier Institute, under the patronage of the Episcopal church 
in Georgia, has probably cost $20,000 in its establishment. One individual 
gave $10,000. The Female College at Macon has probably cost not less than 
$70,000. For the establishment and endowment of Emory College, there 
have been raised between 80 and $100,000. For the establishment and en- 
dowment of Oglethorpe University between 80 and $100,000. For the estab- 
lishment and endowment of Mercer University and a Theological Seminary, 
between 150 and $200,000 have been given. The citizens of Georgia have 
given to the Theological Seminary at Columbia, S. C, about $60,000. To 
Randolph Macon College, N. C, $10,000. To the Columbian College, D.C. 
$25,000. To the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., $25,000. To 
the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass., a considerable amount — how 
much I am unable to say, as I have received no answer to an inquiry touching 
that subject, which I addressed to one of its Professors. I know that Mr. 
John Whitehead of Burke county gave $2500» ,We have here for the pur- 
pose of establishing institutions of learning, private subscriptions by the 
citizens of Georgia, and that within a few years, to the amount of more than 
$600,000. I have mentioned only a small part which has been given for this 
purpose in the State. Our people are not — they never have been, regardless 
of this subject — but from our peculiar situation, we have thus far failed to 
unite and concentrate the action of our whole people. They have the ability 
and the disposition to spread the light of knowledge over our State. Let 
them be properly enlightened, and they will come forth with an energy which 
will overcome all obstacles. That our University has not accomplished more 
is undoubtedly a source of regret to every friend of knowledge — that it has 
accomplished as much as it has, is, perhaps, a cause of rejoicing to all its; 
friends. It will not be denied by any one, that this Institution has been grad- 
ually advancing in usefulness since its funds have been sufficient to sustain 
the expenses necessarily incident to a respectable College. These expenses 



6 

are much larger than many, who have had no experience in the management 
6f such institutions apprehend. The University of Georgia had for an en- 
dowment 40,000 acres of land, located by the Surveyors in what are now Han- 
cock, Green, Oglethorpe, Clark, Jackson, Franklin, and in the fork of the 
Tugalo and Seneca rivers. By the treaty of Beaufort, the last tr£ct was lost 
by falling into the State of South Carolina. Thus, 5000 acres, equal in value 
to more than one-eighth of the endowment of the University was wholly 
lost. The remaining lands were long unsaleable, and could not be rented for 
any valuable consideration. The country was new, lands abundant and 
cheap — much, even of a good quality, could be obtained by merely surveying 
it and paying the fees for granting. The lands, therefore, of the University, 
could not be made available for any valuable purpose, and the Trustees were 
unable to commence the institution. None of the lands belonging to the 
University were sold until 1803, and then only a small portion and at a low 
price. Most of them remained unsold and unproductive till 1816, when they 
were nearly all sold, and $100,000 vested in Bank stock, as a permanent fund 
for the support of the institution. The Legislature, in consideration of the 
large amount of bonds for these lands over the $100,000, guaranteed that 
this permanent fund should yield annually eight per cent. 

The College was nearly suspended from 1816 to 181 9, and by aid of the" 
surplus funds, during this period, the debts of the institution were paid, the 
buildings repaired, the small library increased, and the Philosophical and Che-' 
mical Apparatus, greatly enlarged. From this period the Institution began 
to assume a respectable stand — its students increased — the Board obtained the 
services of a respectable number of officers, and continually enlarged the 
Library and Apparatus. 

The first Commencement was on Thursday the 31st May 1804. The ex- 
ercises were held uder an arbour, erected in the campus — the number of grad- 
uates was nine. Of these 4 are now living, viz: Col. Gibson Clark, Gen. 
Jeptha V. Harris, Col. Wm. H. Jackson, and James Jackson, at present Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry and Natural History, in the University. The Hon. Au- 
gustus S. Clayton one of its most untiring friends, to the day of his death, 
was also a member of this class. Thomas Irwin, Jared Irwin, Robert Ruth- 
erford and William Williamson, were the four remaining members. The 
whole number of graduates is 533, among whom are found a large number of 
our most useful and distinguished citizens. 

The University has buildings which have cost perhaps 75 or 80 thousand 
dollars. It has a very extensive and complete Philosophical Apparatus — a 
good Chemical Labratory — a large Mineral Cabinet, and a very neat Bo- 
tanic Garden. These have cost at least 25,000 dollars. It has a Library of 
very valuable books to the number of about 8 thousand volumes, which have 
cost at least 20,000 dollars. ^ J£he two Literary Socities, have Libraries 
amounting to about 5 thouajfliroliimes. The officers of the Uuiversity are 
now a President, six Proiessnre and two Tutors. Considering all the circum- 
stances, may it not be said that" its Trustees have done much — that they have 
not betrayed their trust — and that though the State may not have done as 
much as many friends of learning could desire, she has done more than many 
apprehend — more than many States which are supposed to have been very lib- 
eral in their endowment and support of seminaries of learning ? It is true, 
that the citizeus of the State, as individuals, have given but little to this In- 
stitution. It has not been the recipient of such legacies and donations as have 
been bestowed upon the older Colleges. But may not the liberality of our 
citizens which has been so free towards other and private seminaries, be yef 
turned towards this ? And since so much has been done by the Trustees to 
carry out the designs of its patriotic, and enlightened founders, . may we not 
reasonably suppose that the State will hereafter appropriate to it whatever 
may be necessary to place it by the side of the most favored, and useful Col- 
leges in the land. 



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